Four Missouri college baseball teams opened their conference tournament schedules yesterday, and all four teams won.
Mizzou won their first round game against Oklahoma State 9-5 in the Big 12 tournament. Nathan Culp won his 11th game of the year. The win tied a school record for most wins in a season. The Tigers are now on a five-game winning streak and playing their best ball of the season when it matters most. Last week, they swept top ten Texas in a three-game series.
The game was tied at four heading into the ninth before the Tigers rattled off five runs on six hits in the inning. Zane Taylor drove in Trevor Helms to put the Tigers ahead for good.
OSU added a run of their own in the ninth to make the game closer, but could not complete the comeback.
The Tigers get a day off today before playing Oklahoma Friday.
Missouri State built a 7-2 lead and almost gave it away. Luckily for the Bears, Southern Illinois ran out of gas and they were able to hold on for a 7-5 first round win in the Missouri Valley Tournament.
The Salukis actually had the tying run at the plate twice in the eighth inning. But all-conference pitcher Chris Krawczyk struck out Matt Brewer and got Dave Cadematori to pop up for the third out. Krawczyk finished the game retiring the side in the ninth to earn his ninth save of the year. The Bears have now won eight straight games.
Missouri State will play Creighton tonight at 7p.
Saint Louis University advanced to the second round of the Atlantic-10 tournament with a 3-1 win over Charlotte. The Billikens only allowed three hits in the ballgame. SLU junior Ryan Bird didn’t allow a hit after the fourth inning.
Charlotte did their only damage in the fourth inning when Corey Lane and O’Brien Taylor hit back-to-back singles. Both runners advanced on a groundout, and Spencer Steedley brought in Lane on a sacrifice fly.
Bird’s feat was all the more impressive considering Charlotte was the A-10’s best offensive team.
The Billikens move on to face the A-10’s regular-season champion Rhode Island today.
Not to be outdone, Southeast Missouri State got a win over Eastern Illinois 7-6 in the Ohio Valley Tournament.
Dustin Pritchett’s two-run double capped off a four run sixth that put the Redhawks ahead for good. Pritchett went 3-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to nine games.
The game saw lead changes three times in the first five innings. Southeast finally ended all lead changes with its rally in the sixth.
The Redhawks have their work cut out for them as they face top-seeded Samford in the second round.
